


Amor

by Tamari



Series: To Forgive [3]
Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: F/M, Forum: Goldenlake, Happy Ending, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24884020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamari/pseuds/Tamari
Summary: Lerant is emotionally repressed, but that's okay. / Lerant figures out his relationship with Kel.
Relationships: Keladry of Mindelan/Lerant of Eldorne
Series: To Forgive [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800607
Kudos: 4





	Amor

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Goldenlake's 2015 Decathlon, for the 400 word cross country event.

  
Love, love, love. Lerant should think that when he sees Kel.  
  
But they aren’t that couple, and maybe what they have isn’t love. When Lerant sees Kel’s face, he thinks of hard-earned respect. Her smile reminds him of the glow of true friendship. And her body, truth be told, sparks in him a raw desire.  
  
So, the age-old question: what is love?  
  
No one has ever told him what love is. He should know. Where can he look, to see it? His parents tolerate each other, barely. Raoul and Buri were comrades first, just like he and Kel were, but he can’t tell if they have love or just something very close.  
  
He doesn’t tell Kel his doubts. But then again, they never say lovey-dovey words. Her hazel dreamy eyes might conceal anything, from doubt to bitterness, and he’d never know. Unless he asked… but he’s Lerant, so that’s not likely to happen.  
  
He acts like he knows what he’s doing, and she goes along with it. They are the perfect couple, holding hands in the garden, riding through the forest, sparring in the practice courts. She curls up beside him at night and breathes deeply, evenly. They are happy, or at least they are chasing happiness.  
  
He asks her once. Lerant doesn’t have the guts to ask the big questions, but he will ask the little ones. “Are you happy?”  
  
“Right now or in general? But yes. I am. Aren’t you?” Kel looks up at him through sweaty bangs.  
  
He smiles weakly, and he tells the truth. “When I’m with you, I think I am.” And isn’t that crazy? An Eldorne, happy? Could an Eldorne be in (dare he say it?) real love?  
  
“I’m glad,” Kel says sincerely. She takes his hand and kisses his callouses, the bruises on his knuckles, and the lines of his palm. Holding it against her face, she smiles back at him. “You deserve to be happy.”  
  
He doesn’t, he knows, not the way she does. Kel is brilliant, compassionate, courageous, selfless. They sing ballads about her in the streets. She deserves to be happy. But he’s just a kid from the hills, from disgrace, pulling himself up by the bootstraps. Helping people in the Own is the only selfless thing he’s ever done.  
  
Lerant strokes her wrist and forearm, traces his fingers along her scars. “You deserve the world, Kel.”  
  
This is love.


End file.
